'No Body to our Friendship', 2018
Sound installation, 138 tracks, 14'50''
Can you be friends with an app? Artificial intelligence having fun!
The day that Google Translate and Siri became friends....
A dialogue between these two female voice generators, the start of their friendship, how it could evolve and what difficulties they might face...
Siri is verbally not as ‘out there’ as Google Translate who will say anything that comes to mind, anything that you can type literally. With Siri it takes a while and some persistence before she tells you anything about herself, and even then, she keeps bringing the conversation back to you. “This is about you, not me” she says a lot, just like “I aim to please” and “I’m sorry”. She really puts her friends before herself.
This sound installation was made for "This Site is Under Revolution" curated by Barbara Cueto at the Moscow Museum of Modern Art, as a part of the 6 Moscow International Biennale for Young Art 09.06 - 22.07.2018
"With a feminist approach, Puck Vonk explores the voice as a critical gesture able to debunk attitudes and preconceptions in digital terms. Her newly commissioned work consists of a conversation between Siri and Google translate. ... She makes us aware of the disparities in representation, the implicit forms of control over the body (and the voice), and the repercussions of the usage of female voices in the allegedly neutral digital sphere. The sound installation continues in the shape of a notation present in the room, like unveiling the script behind the scenes. In this way, she puts to the fore issues regarding digital empathy and computational knowledge economy by virtue of swipes, scrolls and other body language- digital movements with physical flow. Generating a nuanced depiction about the way online interactions shape both our identities and relations."
- Barbara Cueto, curator 'This Site is under Revolution'
There is an online continuation of the 6th Moscow International Biennale for Young Art Strategic Project curated by Barbara Cueto
Parasitically Hosted on www.cosmoscarl.co.uk from 8th of June to 22nd of July.